1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic-book read-aloud device configured to read data on an electronic book aloud and particularly relates to an electronic-book read-aloud device that is installed in a vehicle and that is suitable for reading an electronic book brought in the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electronic books have become commercially practical. The electronic book includes electronic-book data such as electronic novel data. The electronic-book data is downloaded from a predetermined server by communicating over the Internet or the like. The electronic-book data is converted into text data, and a display image of the text data is produced on a screen. Further, the electronic-book data can be stored in a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), that is, a mobile information terminal, a mobile phone, and so forth so that a user can read the electronic book using the device. Hereinafter, the above-described apparatus and devices configured to convert book data into text data and produce a display image of the text data on a screen will be referred to as an “electronic book”.
Usually, the electronic book has a function referred to as an electronic bookmark configured to store information about a position where the user is reading in the electronic book. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-101202 discloses an electronic book that can set the electronic bookmark on each of at least two pages and quickly display a display image of the page on which the electronic bookmark is set.
The known electronic book has been considered to be the substitute of an ordinary book. Therefore, a user reads the electronic book by using his/her own eyes, as is the case with the ordinary book. Consequently, the user cannot read the electronic book while he/she drives a vehicle, for example.
Although the electronic bookmark is set at a position where the user stopped reading, the user often forgets the contents of a page, including the stop position, with the passage of time. In that case, the user often starts reading the electronic book from a position forward of the position where the user stopped reading, which does not make full use of the electronic bookmark.